Dodecatheon L. cultivar Aphrodite.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Dodecatheon plant, botanically known as Dodecatheon L., and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Aphroditexe2x80x99.
The new cultivar originated from a random cross-pollination of two unidentified selections of Dodecatheon L., not patented, in Hillegom, The Netherlands. The new cultivar was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny from this cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Hillegom, The Netherlands, in 1990.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by root divisions taken in Hillegom, The Netherlands, since 1990, has shown that the unique features of this new Dodecatheon are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Aphrodite have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Aphroditexe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Aphroditexe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar of Dodecatheon:
1. Upright and tall growth habit.
2. Long leaves.
3. Large red purple flowers on long and thick scapes.
Plants of the new Dodecatheon differ primarily from plants of the unidentified parent selections primarily in plant size, leaf size, flower size, scape thickness and flower color.
Plants of the new Dodecatheon can be compared to plants of the Dodecatheon cultivar Queen Victoria, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Hillegom, The Netherlands, plants of the new Dodecatheon differed from of the cultivar Queen Victoria in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Dodecatheon were taller than plants of the cultivar Queen Victoria.
2. Plants of the new Dodecatheon had longer and thicker scapes than plants of the cultivar Queen Victoria
3. Plants of the new Dodecatheon had larger flowers than plants of the cultivar Queen Victoria.
4. Plants of the new Dodecatheon had red purple-colored flowers whereas plants of the cultivar Queen Victoria had pink-colored flowers.